Method of and means for transporting heavy artillery



June 5, 1928.

G. M. BARNES METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING HEAVY ARTILLERY Filed Aug. 4, 1.924 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR G M. Barnes A TTORNE Y June 5, 1928. 1,672,146

G. M. BARNES METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING HEAVY ARTILLERY s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4, 1924 INVENTOR G. M Barn es A TTORNE Y Jm Ie 5, 1928.

G. M. BARNES METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING HEAVY ARTILLERY s 'Shee'ts-Sheef 5 Filed Aug. 4, 1924 IN VEN TOR 6*. M Barnes @t TTORNE Y- Patented June 5, was.

par-ran srarss is'zaia Parent GLADEQN M.'BAR1\TES, or HASTINGS, MICHIGAN.

, Application filed August 4, 1924:. Serial No. 730,117.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 188?, 22 STAT. L, 625.)

The invention described herein, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty. thereon.

' The subject of this invention is a. method of and means for transportation of heavy artillery and of emplacing same quickly in condition for firing. The invention includes a special type of gun carriage thus forming l a new system of artillery for use with a field army or for coast defense.

The exigencies of modern warfare have brought about the development ofhigh powered heavy artillery and-rendered it desirable that such artillery be mobile.

1 Railwaysystems, which now ,cover most civilized countries with a network of transportation lines, such lines usually extending to all important sea ports, provide a ready 29 and eflicient means for the transportation of Such artillery, permitting heavy artillery to be assembled, during war, at any threatened point and readily moved from suchpoint to others, when desired.

consequently, been suggested and a number of such suggested designs actually produced; but all such mounts are necessarily cumbersome, and since the carriage and gun are transported as a unit are extremely heavy and their transportation is limited by bridges and light roadbeds. v

This invention contemplates the use of lighter, more easily fabricated and cheaper structures and, to this end, the gun is transported on separate trucks, thereby relieving the gun carriage of'shocks and strains incident to road travel with a heavy gunv mounted thereon. The trucks areof a design to be readily placed beneath the gun to I receive its weight, or removedtherefrom; and the special gun carriage, which is transportable as a separate unit, is designed to be run beneath the gun when the gun transporting trucks are removed so that the gun may be supported'in the cradle, the trans.

porting means for the carriage being preferably removable therefrom.

This system of transportation inchidesem- Railway mounts of various designs have,

reference is had tothe'following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which Fig. 1 is a view inside elevation of a gun on its transporting trucks in position above an emplacement, jacks being shown in place to lift the gun from the trucks; 7

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the'gun transporting trucks removed and the gun carriage run part way beneath the gun;

Fig. 3 is a similar View showing the carriage in gun supporting position ready to be lowered into emplaced position;

.Fig. 4 is a plan view of the .gun carriage, partly in section on line L- l. of Fig. 5 and with parts. removed.

Fig.5 is side elevation of the same; Fig. '6 is a detail longitudinal sectional view taken through one of the gun carriage jacks on line 66 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section; 'Fig. '8 .is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the. forward truck of the transport car.

In carrying out. my invention a suitable transport car 10 (Fig. l) is provided for .the reception .of the gun 11, the gun being removed from itsmount for the purpose of transportation; I

The transport car 10 may be of any convenient form, the preferred form herein shown, by way of illustration, consisting of rear trucks 12 and 18 and a forward truck 13, which may be, connected by the gun 11 when placed thereon, or, as herein shown,

by side bars 14: which are secured t othe side plates 15,- pivotally mounted on the ,reartrucks. The plates15 are formed at their rear ends with spaced eyes 16 adapted to register with complemental eyesv formed in theforward edges ofthe side plates 17 of a detachable rear truck section 18 so that the section may be connected to the car by passing bolts throu hlthe registering eyes. Thep ates 15and 1' are formed to provide 4 a'pivotal support for-the breech end of the gun during transportation. The forward truck consists of. the usual truck platform on which is mounted a block 19,- apertured to receive the sidebars 14:, which bars are provided with openings, not shown, alining with openings 20 in the block, so that pins, bolts onthe like may 'detachably fasten the front truck to the car. A suitable rest 21 for the gun is provided on top of the block in which the gun may be secured as by means of straps 22 which are hinged at one end to'the rest and bound to the gun by bolts passing through apertures in their free ends and secured to the" rest in the usual and well known manner.

A locomotive is used to draw the car, and special carriage described later, along the rails tothe point of emplacementf This emplacement may be of suitable concrete, timber, or steel construction for the proper emplacement of a gun. The form herein shown being of the circular pit type, for

360 traverse, but may be constructed to give any lesser field of fire. The removable rails across the pit-are supported by suitable removable-I beams 23. The .car 10 is brought to position over this emplacement,

as seen most clearly in Fig. 1, and means em lo'yed, such as the rear jack 25 and front 121C? 26, forelevating the gun'frorn the car.

The rear truck 18 is then removed by withdrawing the bolts 16". The pi'ns 20 are withdrawn' and side plates *l t'removed. The rear truck 12 is moved forwardly a sufficient distance to permit placing the jack 27, (Fig.2), when the front jack 26 may .be

removed and thetrucks run forward from most clearly in Figs. 6, 7, and 8. The j a'cks carry at their lowermost extremities flanged wheels adapted to'contac-t the rails and support the carriage thereon when the jacks are lowered. During transport the jacks are retracted or drawn up, the carriage bein thensupported by detachable truck's 33,

' only one of which is shown, connected to thefront and rear ends of the carriage. To provide a convenient method of attaching the trucks to the carriage, the carriage is formed, at 'the front and rear ends of its 'side'plates with spaced eyes. 35 adapted to register with eyes 36 formedon the front and rear trucks so. that the trucks may "'d'etachably conneotedzlto the carriageby ipas'sing' bolts or .the like through the 7 eyes. The carriage herein illustrated being e uipped, with the usual. "elevating meclra nism,"traini ng mechanismfrange dial, sights, electric lights, rammeram facilitie "fer loading, azimuth circle and-pointer and facilities for laying the gunin direction or elevation is supplied with a pedestal 37 containing a roller or ball bearing, adapted to rest on the central reinforced pier of the emplacement, while, at the opposite end of the carriage, apai r of wheels 38 are mounted and are adapted to rest on a circular rail 39 insections provided atthe emplacement, thus supporting the carriage in its pivotal movement during traverse.

When the carriage is brought to the point of emplacement the jacks are 'for'eedfdown until the weight of the carriageis supported on thewheels 32, when the front and rear trucks are disconnected and removed. The gun being in position above the emplacement, as heretofore described,

the carriage is run beneath the gun, the gun entering the opening in the cradle 40 as seen in Fig. 2. In this position the front jack 26 is replaced and the center jack 27 is rfemoved. The carriage isthen run as far back as the rear jack25 will permit, at which point the rear jack may be moved to a position forward of the rear transom, Fig. 3,

the gun during such mov ement being supported in the cradle. The jack is again brought into contact with the gun and the "carriage is run back until it is finally in osition (Fig.

W hen the' carriage is in position, the acks are lowered and the carriage lowered at the same time through manipulation of its jacks 29 until the per'lestal' rest'son the central pier of the] emplacement to which it is then securely bolted and the wheels 38 on the circular rails 39. The jacks 25 and 26 are now removed and the jacks 29 on the'c'arriage are raised. The 'gunisf'astened to the recoil and counter recoil rods of the'cradle and after the removal of the rails and beams 23, can be fired.

It is to be understood that the trucks,

when removed during emplacement of a gun,

ing' them from the tracks or by running them out on short 'sidings provided for this purpose.

some cases it may be desirable to trans- "port'the cradle, containing the recoil mech anism, with the gun, as one unit and the remainder of the carriage as the other mm to obtain better division of the weightor to facilitate mounting at the emplacement.

The electrical power unit for'this mobile system of artillery may be'tran'sported in a separate car using power-leadsto connect the 'generat or in the car with the various motors ,on the gun carriage'such as the elevating motor, rammer motor, traversing motor, lighting system, and air compressor motor; l ll'hei'i emplaced where electr1cpowfer is available the mobile power plant will not be required.

and described is, for use on railways, it is to be understoodthat the broad invention is not limitedto railway use as 'the same ,may be taken care ofveither by bodily li-fthile the equ pment herein illustrated principle may readily be applied to tractor drawn or self propelled artillery, as well as other mobile artillery.

I claim:

1. A gun mount, mobile supporting means removably attached to the mount for transporting the mount, and retractable temporary mobile supports carried by the mount for emplacing the mount.

2.. A gun mount, mobile supporting means removably attached to the mount for transporting the mount, and temporary mobile supports carried by the mount foremplacing the mount.

3. A gun mount, mobile supporting means for the mount for transporting the mount and temporary mobile supporting means carried by the mount for emplacing the mount.

4:. A system of mobile artillery embodying emplacements, a gun and its mount transportable as separate units, mobile supporting means for the gun, mobile supporting means for the mount, means for supporting one of said units in position above the emplacement while removing its mobile supporting means and assembling the units, means for supporting the other of said units while removing its mobile supporting means and assembling it with the first of said units, and means for connecting the mount to the emplacement.

5. A system of mobile artillery embodying an emplacement, a gun and its mount transportable as separate units, mobile supporting means for the gun, mobile supporting means for the mount, means for supporting the gun in position above the emplacement while removing its mobile supporting means and assembling the units, means carried by the mount for supporting the mount while removing its mobile supporting means placement while removing its mobile supporting means and assembling the units, means for supporting'the other of said units While removing its mobile supporting means and assembling the units, the means supporting the units including meansfor lowering the assembled units to position upon the emplacement. 1 v

7. A system of mobile artillery embodying an emplacement, a. gun and its mount transportable as separate units and having removable transporting means, means for supporting the gun in position, and means carried by the mount whereby it may be moved into position to receive the gun and manoeuv ered to its emplacement.

8. A system of mobile artilleryembodying an emplacement consisting of a central pier within a circular pit, removable bridge rails extending from the pier to the opposite side of the pit, a wheeled gun mount movable GLADEON M. BARNES.

over said rails, and means carried by the a 

